by Phil Wheeler
“Are you responsible for the break in at my house?”
“We needed to know if you had any information.”
“What about my lab?”
“I ordered the removal of your power supply and an explosion to cover it up, we couldn't leave any loose ends. It was unfortunate that your assistant and a guard were there at the time.”
Dylan couldn't believe what he was hearing, three people had died, and for what? “I don't know how you can be so callous about this. Robert was your friend. David and the guard – they had families and lives. Doesn't that mean anything to you?”
“You don't understand”, Mason retorted, “Sometimes things of lesser value are sacrificed for a greater good. Think back to your own United States, it was built on the backs of slaves, without them it could not have obtained greatness, and the removal of the Indians from their lands was also necessary. The land was needed if America was to continue to grow. ”
He wasn't going to argue about the wrong done to slaves and Indians; he just wanted to understand the murders of his friends. “The greater good? You make it sound like they weren't even people who were killed.”
“The winners write history, Dylan, and lesser people sometimes must be dealt with.” Mason's face betrayed no emotion as he spoke.
“Lesser people? Is that what Robert and David were? What made them lesser people, because they weren't part of your master race? Wouldn't that make me a lesser people, and expendable?”
“No, Dylan. You are Draconian.”
“What – wha - what are you talking about?”
“I said that you are Draconian. You are a product of our breeding program. Your parents were selected specifically, as were their parents, and their parents before them. Not just you, but others like you were bred to find an answer to our problem - 'How to provide a power supply without the inherent dangers of the original.' Many have been bred expressly for that purpose, but it was you who finally solved the problem. Dylan, you are destined to be a prince among our people, leading them to a new beginning. You are the future of our race.”
He looked at Mason for a long time. This latest revelation was the most unsettling of all, how could he be part of this master race? It went against everything that he believed in, he simply couldn't except it. “I don't want to be part of your master race. Do you think that this is something new? Hitler tried it and he failed, what makes you think that you can be successful, or that I would want to be part of it?
“Hitler only failed because he wouldn't listen to us. He became uncontrollable, tried to move too fast, but that's what comes from using someone like that. He wasn't a Draconian.”, Mason said dismissively, “and we have learned from our mistakes.”
“We? You act like you were there, and if he wasn't a Draconian what was he?”
Mason looked at Dylan, and said, “I can speak from experience, I was there. Hitler was a useful tool, but he became obsessed with his own supposed greatness.”
“What are you talking about, you were there? That's over 65 years ago, how could you have been there?”
“I was there. My name was Kammler then, and I was a general in the SS. Dylan, you have been given a great gift, as a consequence of your Draconian ancestry you will live for centuries. I am 237 years old.”
Dylan was out of his chair now, and screaming at Mason, “I don't believe you. This is all some kind of nightmare.”
Mason touched his arm and he shrank back from it. He sat back down. Mason looked at him and said, “I can assure you that it is not a nightmare. On the contrary, it is wonderful. You are part of the elite, the rulers of this world.”
Dylan shook his head slowly from side to side, denying what was said and at the same time trying to shake the confusion out of his brain. This was too much to take, he didn't want to be part of this, he didn't want to be part of the master race. He wanted to be who he was, and that was all he wanted. “I don't believe you. You can't prove any of this. You're making it up, do you really expect me to believe that you're over 200 years old? I may be naive, but I'm not stupid.”
“I can understand your doubt, but can you honestly think of any other explanation for all this? Please, Dylan, find the password. I can show you everything if you just find the password.”
Chapter 38
Dylan was returned to his cell. Tomiko got up to meet him, and he put his arms around her and held her for a long time. Neither of them spoke for some minutes, until Tomiko asked, “Are you all right? You don't look so good, why don't you lie down for a minute?”
Dylan walked over to his bunk, and lay down on his stomach. She sat down beside him, and began rubbing his shoulders. Gradually, the tension left, and he started to relax somewhat. “I don't know what to think. This can't really be happening and it gets stranger every time that I talk to Mason.” He rolled over on his side, and leaned on his elbow. “Do you know what he said this time? I'm an alien, or at least I'm part of a breeding program by aliens, I'm part of his master race.”
She didn't say anything at first, she just looked at him. Finally, she asked him, “Did he inquire about the Email?”
“Yes, some. He said that it would explain everything. He asked me to find the password.”
She looked at him with searching hazel eyes, “So, I think that's what we should do. This is obviously important and if it can answer our questions then we should do it. Would you not agree?”
“I don't know if I want to help him. I'm just afraid of what he will do.”
“Are you afraid that he will hurt you? I think that you're safe for at least as long as he needs you.” She spoke with surety he did not feel.
He pulled her close, wanting the feel of her body against him, but also to insure some intimacy. He kissed her ear, than whispered, “Tomiko, I'm not worried about myself, I'm worried about what he might do to you.”
She stayed in his arms for a while, then drew back and smiled at him. “I am going to be fine, and I think we should work on figuring out that password.
She was probably right, he thought to himself, and he got up and moved over to where the computer sat. With a sigh he took a seat and again read the Email from his friend. Again, he drew a blank. He just did not know what his friend could have used, and it wasn't easy to think with the threat to Tomiko in the forefront of his thoughts. He needed to clear his head, what he really needed was a walk, but that didn't look too possible. He sat up and looked at the ceiling. “I know that you can at least see me and I would think that you can hear me as well. I need to go for a walk to clear my head. How about it?”
Fifteen minutes later their guard entered the room and said, “Would you both please come with me.”
They walked down the hallway and stopped at a door like all the rest, only this one had no number on it. Geisha Girl used her card, and the door slid open to reveal an elevator. The three of them entered and she pressed a button that simply said atrium. The elevator began to move, going up, and after a few moments came to a stop. The doors opened and they stepped out into a garden full of flowers, bushes, and even trees. Dylan walked around and looked at the plants, some he recognized but many were foreign to him. This place was beautiful. He walked down a path, and stopped before a fountain that gurgled gently in the sunlight. Koi swam in the fountain, gorgeous in orange and black. To one side there was a flower that reminded Dylan of snap dragons. Around the flowers, butterfly’s fluttered brightly. Their jailer said, “Please enjoy. When you would like to return to your room go back to the elevator and push the call button. It will summon me, and I will take you back. Stay as long as you like.”
They walked around the atrium for over an hour. He wondered at the beauty of some of the plants, some were so unlike anything that he had ever seen that he believed they might be from another world. Robert had talked about the manuscript and the plants that fit no known phylum on earth so could it be, was what Mason telling him
true? He looked at Tomiko, “I wish I knew what to do but I do think that you are right, it would seem as if we are not in any immediate danger. It's just that I don't know where this is all leading us. Cold fusion could be a weapon, but if that is what Mason wants then why have me build a power supply? It would be easier to just build the weapon.”
“I don't have an answer for you”, she said, “but, if he wants a weapon then why the insistence on the file from Robert? What is so important about that?”
“I'm not sure. Robert said something about the manuscript being older than its reported age. He also felt that it was more than just a botanical text. He thought it might be an index of some kind to a much larger text, and might contain the key to finding it.”
“Maybe that's what this is all about. Maybe Mason wants that larger text for some reason.”
Dylan thought about that. “That's what he more or less said to me, he said it contained the knowledge of the Draconian race.”
They walked for a while longer then returned to the elevator and called their keeper. Returning to the room, they ate a light dinner and sat quietly, neither seemed to have anything to say and he did not really want to work on the password.
Tomiko obviously felt differently, she seemed to be deep in thought. “What about common interests? The Email mentions the Zips. What's a Zip?”
“Oh, I'm a big soccer fan, and I follow the University of Akron men's team. The mascot is a kangaroo called Zippy, and their nickname is the Zips.”
“And you've tried all of those?” She was watching his face intently, because he suddenly had a look on it that could only be described as surprise and a smile was starting to show at the corners of his mouth. She asked him, “What is it, do you have it?”
“I can't believe that I didn't see it before, I must be stupid not to have seen it. I got it, I know what the password is.”
Dylan quickly stood up and walked over to the computer, sat down, and began to type. Hitting the enter key, he waited. A frown painted his face, and he looked at Tomiko. “I thought I had it.”, he said, “but I was wrong.”
Tomiko came to stand by him. “What did you think it was?”, she asked.
“Remember I said that Robert didn't like soccer? In fact, he hated it, said it was boring. That got me thinking – why would he end his Email with Go Zips? Why not Go Indians, or just Go Cleveland? I typed in go zips, but it didn't work, that's not the password.”
They both were silent for a moment, and then she said, “Hold on, Dylan. Did you capitalize any of the letters, maybe it's case-sensitive?”
He looked at her and smiled. “No, I didn't think of that. You could be right.” He turned back to the keyboard and began to type, this time he capitalized the G in Go and the Z in Zips. He hit the enter key again and was rewarded with the same password invalid. Looking at Tomiko he said, “I thought I had it, but I was wrong.”
Chapter 39
Dylan sat at the desk for a long time before he spoke. “It has to be something with the Zips, but what?”
“Have you tried Zippy, or Akron? What about words like soccer, or kangaroo?”
“Yes, I've tried them.”, said Dylan.
“What did you guys talk about, what did he say about them?”
“Robert hated soccer. Said they weren't athletes, he called them.....” Dylan stopped, and looked at Tomiko. “I can't believe he would use it, but let's give it a try.” Quickly tapping out the letters on the keyboard, he hit the enter key, and was immediately rewarded with password accepted, and do you want to unzip all files?
Tomiko looked at him was a mixture of surprise and relief. “What was the password?'
He said with a laugh, “Robert called soccer players field fairies – that was it. Knowing Robert's sense of humor it should have been obvious.” Entering a Y to proceed, he watched as the file unzipped, creating two separate files. One was quite large, the other much smaller. One was named Voynich Manuscript, and one was Open First. It was a video and he clicked on it, the computer asked what program he would like to use to run it, and he selected Media Player. The file loaded, and he was rewarded with the face of his friend, Robert.
“Hello, Dylan.” Robert's smiling face was centered in the screen, and his voice was heard on the PC's speakers. “If you are listening to this I guess that you figured out the password. I knew you could do it. You have to admit, it was a really good choice that only you could come up with.” The face grew more serious as he continued, “Well, my friend, I really put my foot in it this time, and you are not going to believe what I have to tell you. Where should I begin?
Dylan, I know that you don't believe in all that extraterrestrial stuff that I work on but what I am about to tell you is the truth - Aliens do exist and this manuscript is the proof. I told you that it had a lot of information about plants, but I also thought that there might be some kind of outline, a history of sorts. I was right. The manuscript has a whole lot of information about medical cures with flowers and herbs that don't exist on earth and it seems to be a study of some disease or something, the people who wrote it were looking for a remedy. It isn't just about plants, though, there is also an outline of the history of this alien race. They came here over 30,000 years ago, Dylan, and they have been creating a race of supermen ever since. It's only an index, but there is a lot of information about their breeding programs, even some names and dates. It's extensive and some of the names on the list are just unbelievable – an Egyptian Pharaoh and Alexander the Great. They have an agenda, and have been carrying it out for thirty centuries. I believe that there are members of this group at all levels of society, in government, business, anyplace of power all over the world. The manuscript mentions the Templar's and how they tried to get a country of their own. They were rich and powerful, but got low-balled by some French king in the 14th century. It isn't detailed, but it's clear that the Knights Templar were an open attempt by these aliens to create an independent country. That is about where this outline ends, with the Templar's, but I got to believe that there have been more of these attempts throughout history. I wonder how many wars have been started or financed by them. Dylan, they are a dangerous menace.”
The door of the room opened, and Donald Mason entered. “Thank you, Dylan, I had no doubt that you would figure it out. I will take that, now.” He walked over to where Dylan and Tomiko were watching the video, and pressed the pause key. “It has been a long time, but we now have our legacy back. This will restore to us our culture and our way of life, and for that I thank you.” Mason picked up the PC and walked towards the door. It opened and he started to leave, then he stopped to look at them. “This doesn't change things, we still need that power supply.” He turned and walked away, the door closing behind him.
The remainder of the day went by with Geisha Girl bringing them something to eat and another visit to the atrium. That evening they were both taken to see Mason. “Welcome. Please come in, and sit down. I hope that your quarters are adequate.”
Dylan glared at Mason for a moment, then said, “I thought I was part of your master race. It feels more like I'm a prisoner – a gilded cage is still a cage. What do you want from us?”
“Dylan, I was not lying when I said that you were Draconian, but understand that I can't trust you, not yet. It will take some time before you are won over to my point of view so put yourself in my place, would you let you walk around without some limits?”
“No, I guess not. So tell me, what do you want me for? If you want to use cold fusion as a weapon I won't do it.” His face was set in a hard line.
“Nothing quite so mundane, I am not interested in conquering the world or, failing that, blowing it up. I am also not interested in monetary gain, although I must admit that your power supply would make us all rich. I am simply interested in your power supply as a power supply, but on a much greater scale than you have considered. I am going to power a star-
ship with it, Dylan, and you are going to help me.”
Dylan couldn't help but smile as he said, “ET phone home? Does this mean you are leaving us? I can get behind that.”
Mason's face showed no signs of humor, and he said, “Yes, that is exactly what I mean. With your help I plan on taking our ship back to our home world and I plan on rebuilding that world, but this time we will do it right.”
“I thought your home was destroyed, polluted or something? How can you go back to a dead world?” He was curious and couldn't deny that this was all very interesting.
“Do you remember Robert talking about Torsion Fields?”
“Yes, but I don't know what that has to do with anything.”
Mason was being very patient, he continued, “Einstein theorized that time would slow down as you approached the speed of light, but what if you could exceed it, what would happen then? A Torsion Field with a cold fusion power source of sufficient strength would have the ability to twist the known laws of physics. We could travel not only in a straight line dimension but much faster than the speed of light; travel through time itself. Do you understand what that means? We could travel back before our planet was destroyed, before we polluted it. We could fix it. Isn't that worth a few lives?”